Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte episode 6. Make sure you’ve seen it before reading on.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll have been left wondering if we’ve seen the planet Qimir and Osha land on before in Star Wars. The lush green hills on an island surrounded by the sea do look very familiar for fans of The Last Jedi, after all. However, no, it’s quickly made clear that this is not Ahch-To, but instead somewhere called simply 'Unknown Planet'.
But while it may not be setting up another link to the sequels trilogy (after that Kylo Ren Easter egg last week), that doesn’t mean it’s not significant. In fact, some Star Wars fans think they’ve worked out exactly where it is, and it’s all down to cortosis.
The metal was brought into live action in The Acolyte episode 5 when it started short-circuiting the lightsabers on Khofar, but Qimir (or The Stranger) actually namechecks it here. When he’s in the cave with Osha, he tells her that the metal is useful against the Jedi weapons, as well as being key to sensory deprivation. If you look a bit closer at his surroundings when he’s saying this, it’s clear that the cave is full of cortosis.
The Star Wars community naturally did some digging, and it seems the planet they’re on may actually be a hugely significant one. As shared by Twitter user Vader's Order, a section on Wookiepedia gives a very intriguing description of the planet Bal'demnic.
Described as "an ocean planet adorned with rocky tropical islands in the Bak'rofsen system of the Auril sector", it has "rich deposits of cortosis". Even more intriguing though is that this ore later "fell into the hands of Sith Lords Darth Tenebrous and Darth Plagueis".
If your Spidey sense is tingling, that’s because there have already been a lot of theories that these Sith Lords may be linked to The Acolyte in some way. In fact, just based on the latest episode alone, several fans have mentioned Tenebrous, while a Sith power linked to Plagueis played a big role in the Brendock witches storyline a few episodes back.
"I literally just finished re-reading Darth Plagueis 2 days ago and lost my mind seeing that planet," tweeted one fan in response. "Now all the people that questioned how he got so much Cortosis got their answer," another added, while a third speculated: "If they go along this route they could have Qimir be one of Tenebrous' apprentices (as he already had another despite Plagueis)."
The Acolyte is airing weekly on Disney Plus. For more, check out our guide to The Acolyte release schedule as well as our stories on:
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